BRACHYPTERYX MONTANA. 



I met with the Brachypteryx montana in one situation only, at an elevation 

 of about 7000 feet above the level of the ocean. Like other animals already 

 mentioned in this Work, it is probably found on all the mountain peaks of Java, 

 which are covered with thick forests, accommodated to its peculiar habits. The 

 recurrence of several quadrupeds and birds, at a certain elevation, is as regular in 

 this Island as that of many plants and insects. Although local in its residence, our 

 bird is very numerous on Mount Prahu ; and in my daily excursions I uniformly 

 observed, and occasionally surprised it in its short sallies among the openino-s of the 

 forest. It is chiefly found on the lowest branches of trees, or on the earth. The 

 shortness of its wings incapacitates it for elevated or distant flights, and its motions 

 are low, short, and made with great exertion. It lives in the thickest coverts : here 

 it forms its nest on the ground, and feeds on the larvae of insects, worms, &;c. 



Our bird is a delightful resident in the forests of Mount Prahu, which, in the 

 luxuriance of its vegetation and gloomy thickets, is probably not surpassed in 

 any portion of the globe. It utters, almost without interruption, a varied song. 

 Its common note is a quickly reiterated babbling, resembling that of the Curruca 

 garrula of Brisson, and other birds of this family ; it also has a protracted plaintive 

 note, but it sometimes rises to higher and melodious warblings, which, in the 

 general silence of these elevated regions, afford an inexpressible sensation of delight 

 to the mind of the solitary traveller. 



